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Discover New York

Do you want to visit impressive attractions? You’re looking for the most famous shopping miles or enchanting boutiques for the perfect shopping trip? Or you’re interested in fascinating buildings of art and culture? We’ve compiled a selection for you.

Helicopter flight

New York from above

The best way to start your stay in New York is to take a helicopter flight over Manhattan. The trip is affordable nowadays and offers a simply breathtaking view of the city. You get a bird’s eye view of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Governors Island, as well as the Manhattan skyline. It’s a priceless experience. The standard tour lasts 15 minutes.

Central Park

Green lung of the Big Apple

The Central Park is one of New York City's most visited landmarks. A visual masterpiece created by landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted and architect Calvert Vaux, Central Park has gone through major developments and restoration over time to carry on its initial purpose as an open-air oasis for a metropolitan city. If you go for a walk, take a bike or just relax at one of the lake – this park is a highlight!

The High Line

Green train line

The High Line is a former elevated spur line that you can still clearly recognise. Today, though, this is used for a completely different purpose. Since 2006, it has been a public park run by the Friends of the High Line. Here, plants and herbs are sown, events are held, and guided tours offered. The High Line is intended to be a place for meetings, the maintenance of green areas, and relaxation.

Rockefeller Center

Top of the Rock

The observation deck on the 70th floor of the Rockefeller Center is an experience. The view of the Empire State Building and the city is magnificent! This is the right place to take great photos of the city. The observation deck extends over three floors. The best one is of course right at the top. Its advantage over the Empire State Building: the queuing times are mostly shorter.

Swiss Institute

Swiss organisation – international art

Founded in 1986 to promote the intercultural dialogue between Switzerland and the United States, the Swiss Institute has grown from a shop window showing Swiss art to an international meeting place for art. Whether its exhibit displays works by punk rock legend Malcome McLaren or video artist Pipilotti Rist, the institute offers an exciting and unique look at contemporary creation.

Empire State Building

Top view

The Empire State Building is one of New York’s landmarks. At 443 metres, it is one of the tallest buildings in the city. The 102 storeys are used mainly as offices. And, of course, it is the tourist attraction par excellence. There are observation decks in the open areas on the 86th and 102nd floors. The view of the city, Central Park, and the districts outside of Manhattan is simply spectacular. This you should see. Even if you should queue for it.

Coney Island

Pure fun

The incredible vibe of this amusement park built in the 1920s, with its old shooting galleries, is magical by sun or rain. It’s a charm that the Coney Island Development Corporation urban renewal company can’t strip away, though they have other plans for the location. The legendary Astroland has already been torn down and replaced by series of new railroads. But the Wonder Wheel is still spinning and the iconic hot dog is still being served. From Midtown Manhattan it takes about 45 minutes to get there.

Statue of Liberty

Must-see

The Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island is the hallmark of New York. Inaugurated in 1886, she was created by the French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi as a gift from the people of France. Since 1984 the statue representing Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, has been a UNESCO World Heritage site. In her right hand she holds up a torch, in her left she cradles a table that pays homage to the Declaration of Independence. Altogether the statue towers 92 metres, making it the tallest statue in the world. Anyone who goes to New York should visit the Statue of Liberty. First you get the great view of the Manhattan skyline from the boat trip to Liberty Island. Then you get to see the statue up close. Due to effects from Hurricane Sandy, the statue itself is currently not open to the public. The National Park Service projects that it will reopen in July 2013. The ferries depart from Liberty State Park in Jersey City and from Battery Park in Lower Manhattan.

Tiffany & Co.

Glittering

Tiffany & Co. has been the leading jeweller in America and the world since 1837. The flagship store on Fifth Avenue houses seven floors of bling, everything a jewellery lover could wish for. Tiffany & Co. stands for beautiful jewellery, diamond rings, gold necklaces, silver bracelets and porcelain. Famous names like Paloma Picasso have created jewellery collections just for Tiffany’s. But if you enter Tiffany & Co. in New York, you’re sure not to come back out too soon.

Fifth Avenue

The most famous shopping mile

Fifth Avenue is easily the best known and most expensive shopping mile in the world. You’ll find one flagship store after another. Luxury brands and trendy labels share the space with long-established boutiques, inviting cafés and restaurants – every one of them a wonder from the architecture alone – and world famous marvels like the Empire State Building. It has everything from cult toy store FAO Schwarz to the Apple Store. There’s no getting round Fifth Avenue during your New York trip!

ABC Carpet & Home

Interiors

Exquisite design pieces from the fifties are as easy to find here as furniture to fit a country style, shabby chic or Scandinavian design. The ground floor houses a wonderful jewellery department and enough different scented candles to make a fan’s heart beat faster. In the basement you’ll find the award-winning ABC Kitchen, one of the best newer restaurants in the city. Make sure to reserve a table.

Manolo Blahnik

Iconic stilettos

When Bianca Jagger celebrated her birthday at Studio 54 in stilettos by Manolo Blahnik back in 1977, she launched the shoe designer’s name around the world. His success has not waned for a moment. When the shoes became even more prominent after their recent appearance among Carrie and her friends in Sex and the City, the New York flagship store became a cult address. And lightened more than a few wallets.

Freemans Sporting Club

Classic American

This men’s clothier professes to want to revive the dying art of American handcraftsmanship and the reinstall the quality and resilience of its products. Following the motto «made local, buy local», all of its goods are produced within ten miles of the store. You’ll find beautifully made suits as well as handkerchiefs created using excellent fabrics. In the back of the shop is a barber shop for men to get a trim. And the restaurant around the corner, also named Freemans, serves up rustic American dishes.

Kiehl’s

Old-world apothecary

Kiehl’s is a dyed-in-the-wool New York enterprise. Since 1851 it’s been developing skin and hair care product formulae using particularly effective, natural ingredients. The original Kiehl’s Pharmacy was a family-run business. They still try to demonstrate this at their store on Third Avenue in the East Village with its old-fashioned design. Nowadays the brand now has stores and fans around the world and stands for great products and quality. There are plenty of shops in New York besides its flagship store.

Bergdorf Goodman

Sophistication

New York’s most sophisticated department store on the Upper East Side has been offering everything you need for a life of luxury on its 23 000 m2 spread out over nine floors for more than 80 years: designer clothes, jewellery galore and treasures for the home. Fashion victims will find all they need and more. And luckily the store also has a sales department.

C.O. Bigelow

Mecca for beauty products

The apothecary C.O. Bigelow is a paradise for beauty product lovers. Founded in 1938 in Greenwich Village and still there, it is one of the oldest apothecaries in the United States. Its top sellers include the lemon body cream, a rose salve and a lip balsam made of mint – all in handsome «retro» packaging. It also carries make-up lines like Nars and the upscale skin care products from New York’s Malin + Goetz.

Opening Ceremony

Avant garde

Opening Ceremony is «the» department store for the fashion avant garde. It's hard to enter this temple to fashion and not stay all afternoon until you’ve scanned every nook and cranny to see the entire assortment. They carry the best brands from Japan to Sweden: Acne, Carven, Proenza Schouler, Hussein Chalayan and Rodarte. They’ve even got the collection from «it» girl Chlöe Sevigny.

Narnia

Vintage

Narnia is more than an auspicious name; it’s a safe address when it comes to beautiful, vintage designer pieces for life-long wear, from a well-maintained Chanel bag to YSL patent leather shoes or a blouse by Chloé. Narnia also carries carefully selected no-brand items. Not exactly cheap, but affordable. Still, bargaining never hurt anybody.

New Museum

Contemporary art

The New Museum, designed by Japanese architects Ryue Nishizawa and Kazuyo Sejima, looks like white boxes stacked on top of each other to create an enormous sculpture. Inside the museum houses temporary exhibitions of contemporary art throughout its seven floors and 5 500 m2. There is also a theatre in the floor reserved for students of art. The Sky Room is suffused with light and the deck has an unforgettable view of the downtown.

Broadway

Musicals and theatre

Broadway is the theatre district around Times Square between 41st and 53th Street and 6th and 9th Avenue. There are about forty major theatres and about 1500 smaller establishments. Great musical productions like Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King, Les Misérables, or Mamma Mia are presented here as well as seasonal shows like A Christmas Story. And famous Hollywood stars repeatedly take the Broadway stages. You should always browse the internet in good time for tickets. Or go directly to Times Square where you’ll find a sales outlet offering tickets often at reduced prices.

Tenement Museum

History of immigrants

The historian Ruth Abraham had the idea of founding a museum to honour America's immigrants. Today visitors to Tenement Museum can view the simple apartments where many immigrant families first stayed after leaving Ellis Island. You can listen to their meticulously researched stories and marvel at the painstakingly reconstructed apartment rooms. The museum offers other fascinating tours of the Lower East Side that bring the neighbourhood's turbulent history to life.

Guggenheim Museum

Abstract art

The Guggenheim Museum is worth seeing for the architecture alone. Visitors can admire the construction from above and below from each floor of the spiral ramp. The museum is the conglomeration of various geometrical shapes: triangles, squares, circles, arcs and ovals. The collection focuses on abstract art, though there are also expressionist, surrealist and impressionist works. In addition, the Guggenheim Museum always has a fascinating special exhibit running.

MoMA

Art highlight

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) houses one of the most important collections of modern and contemporary art in the world. It was redesigned between 2002 and 2004 by Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi and reopened in 2004. Those who need their art fix will find nothing lacking in this collection. more than 150 000 works of design and architecture, drawings, sketches, projections, prints and illustrations, from Picasso to Warhol, from Henry Moore to Pipilotti Rist. Don’t miss it. And set aside enough time.

LOCAL TIP

In New York, too, you can enjoy really good coffee that is just as good as Italian, and that at a great many places. For instance, Culture Espresso. Here you can drink Flat White, a cappuccino skilfully decorated with Latte Art. Another café is the Laughing Man owned by the famous actor Hugh Jackman, who occasionally takes a look in. Joe the Art of Coffee is a coffee chain, and the perfect alternative to Starbucks. My last tip where you can find the perfectly brewed coffee is 1668 in Greenwich. And you can order delicious sandwiches there as well.